The Warehouse
by Corona Pax
Summary: I just wanted answers. Run? Me? I can't. Tends to happen when you're in a wheelchair. Yep. I couldn't run nor did I have a real office to hide in. A friend I met recently at least had an office when she went against the Originals yet she still chose to run around like crazy. Likely why she's still alive...But what did I do when Toby, Mags, and the others actually wanted to kill me?
1. Prologue The Last One

**Prologue**

 **The Last One**

Fear.

Panic.

Dread.

Terror.

Seven years ago the night guard clutched his weapon into his chest and clamped a shaky hand over his mouth in attempts to quiet his haggard breathing.

Not an easy thing to do when your body is spasming uncontrollably, violently demanding oxygen in return for allowing you to make a mad dash to safety.

The man closed his eyes from the pain of his burning lungs and forced himself to listen for the clangs that would usually signal approaching danger. For a moment he couldn't hear anything over the pounding in his ears and he panicked at the loss of that one very important faculty. Sight was already pretty much gone if he wanted to stay hidden in the dark areas and smell could only help if he were sitting right next to one of them. Not making that mistake again...

He closed his eyes in relief as the pounding and the spasms faded and he let himself risk a slow draw of air into his lungs. It was another struggled to go slowly but he managed.

Why did he come back? Because he didn't believe he was in any real danger at first that's why. Just some buggy programming he said to himself. Just a prank on the new guy he said. He was an idiot! One more week and then the whole place is put under automated security. Perfect. Then _no one_ will have to go through this ever again.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt as he heard the sound he had been dreading.

Clanking footsteps.

He froze hoping they weren't very close. You could never tell with this place. Everything echoes in just the wrong places and there were too many heart attack inducing corners to turn into while walking around.

He swore in his head as he realized the sounds were coming his way and he was laying in the middle of an aisle they could just glance down to see his silhouette. As quietly as he could he climbed into one of the bottom selves and laid down so that most of him was surrounded by wooden crates. There was a blanket lying on top of one so he pulled it off, wincing at the _ssshhhhhrrreeee_ sound of canvas sliding against wood. He covered himself as best he could, leaving a tiny fold in front of his face that he could peek out.

Ten seconds later the clanging sound were definitely at the end of the aisle. Wait… there were two sets of footsteps.

They stopped and the night guard prayed that they would move on. Please just move on.

But they didn't. There was quiet whispering for a second before one of the sets departed and the other started to walk down the aisle the man was just in. The other set didn't actually leave though…unfortunately they started walking down the next aisle on the other side of industrial shelving he was hiding under.

 _They know I'm here! They're boxing me in!_ The man screamed in his mind but he didn't dare make a peep.

He almost gave himself away with a scream of terror when he heard another sound coming from high above on the tall warehouse ceiling. The sound was similar but it wasn't footsteps.

Cla-clang-cla-clank.

Cla-clang-cla-clank.

Not _that_ one too.

Was this a sick team-up or did they all happen to track him to the same place? He wasn't sure which he preferred. Neither looked good for him.

His heart was starting to pound in his ears again, making it all the more harder to listen.

They were coming closer, all the while keeping a steady pace whether they were on the ground or the ceiling.

Clang Clang. Clang Clang…

Cla-clang-cla-clank….

Where were the other three? Last time he checked the stringy, creepy, black and white one was staying in the cage, while the bear and the weird short walking helium tank were in the other side of the building.

Then again he had thought the one on the ceiling was two floors up…far away.

He choked on his heart when one set of footprints suddenly stopped right in front of his hiding place. He could've reached out and grabbed its ankle.

 _Don't move…._ He had to tell himself even though every fiber in his body was telling him to scramble out from under the shelves and book it as hard as he possibly could.

No. He wouldn't be fast enough, there was another one waiting on the other side, and he didn't think he could survive another mad dash like before.

He almost moaned as the scuffed up damaged legs in his view started to bend at the knees with a creak as they crouched down to look into his hiding spot.

He was as still as a corpse as bright green eyes came into view and looked over the blanket he was hiding under. But they didn't stop moving and it didn't look directly at his face. Maybe it hadn't seen him?

The eyes blinked as he held his breath, gray tinging the edge of his vision. The robot reached forward, intending to grasp the blanket and peek underneath.

This was it. He was going to die. Be a warehouse security guard they said. It will be nice and boring they said. Plenty of time to sit around editing videos! But no. Here he was, about to die a likely horrible, painf-

"T Bonnie! Over here! I think he went this way," the owner of the second set of footsteps suddenly said with a female voice.

The hand above his head froze, "You sure?"

"Um, not really," the second voice admitted.

 _Yes. Yes! Please be sure!_ He practically begged.

"But I think he dropped his flashlight when he ran past." There was the clicking sound of metal on metal as the other robot gingerly picked up the flashlight he had accidently dropped when he was scrambling to hide himself. His flashlight. His only weapon.

"Hm. Kay," the robot that was about to catch him straightened up and walked away to follow the other.

The man continued to hold his breath until the sound had completely faded away.

That was too close.

He let out a relieved breath that was maybe a little too loud for his liking and froze, fully expecting something to return at the sound. When nothing happened he chuckled slightly hysterically, his nerves still frayed and jumpy.

He had to move. It was tempted to stay in one place and try to wait it out until morning but they'd find him eventually. His best chance was to run around and hope to lose them in one of the Dead Spots around the warehouse if they got too close.

With that somewhat depressing thought he wiggled his way out of the tight hiding spot. Once he was out, he looked down the aisle on his left side. Nothing there. Good. Then he turned and looked down the other-

He turned his head only to get an immediate view of a cracked wooden white mask three inches from his own face with faded red lips and dull purple lines, flowing like tearstains from black empty sockets.

He screamed and fell backwards, landing on his back and cracking his head painfully against the concrete flooring. As he lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was a full set of silver, slightly rusted, _very_ sharp teeth hanging from the shelving above him while flickering yellow eyes stared him down hauntingly.

"Hmph, almost too easy," the Puppet, or Marionette said as he walked around the unconscious _night guard_ to let Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, and Toy Freddy get a good look. His footfalls were eerily silent and he made not a single sound as he moved.

"This one was a bit of a doofus," Toy Bonnie scoffed, "Did he _really_ think I didn't know where he was? Come on."

"How was my acting Puppet?" Toy Chica said cheerily. Her beak came slightly loose as she talked and she hurriedly adjusted it before it could fall off.

"Excellent," Puppet praised happily, as if he was a proud father. He glanced up to see Mangle staring at the human with a tired and frustrated expression as she shakily hung from the shelving over them, "Wonderful job with the cornering Mangle."

Mangle turned toward him and pasted on a smile that only lasted a second and only showed half her teeth.

Puppet regarded her for a moment but turned away before he could risk a frown, even if it would be barely noticeable on him.

Mangle cast one more glance at the human below her before scowling and turning to climb up to the rafters again, careful to keep any wires or loose gears from snagging on things as she went. She didn't have many left and it put enough strain on her as it was having to hang in one place for too long.

Puppet decided it was best to address the fox's slight attitude at another time. It wasn't causing an immediate problem for him. However…

"Toy Bonnie. Toy Chica," Puppet said.

"Yes Puppet?" Toy Bonnie said with rapt attention.

"You two can take him," Puppet said with a careless glance at the still human.

The blue rabbit and the chicken glanced at each other.

"What about you, Mangle and T Freddy?" Toy Chica asked.

"Mangle will join you if she's interested. And we," he gestured between himself and Toy Freddy who was distractedly playing with his ratty old hat. "Will join you as soon and Toy Freddy and I have a little _talk_ about why he didn't participate as much as he should have tonight." Puppet sent a pointed look at the bear who flinched and looked downward.

Toy Chica sighed while Toy Bonnie frowned shrugged and gave Toy Freddy a similar look which was thrown back at him when Toy Freddy glared at him enough to make his ears wilt a little.

"Whatever," he muttered as he and Toy Chica each grabbed one of the night guards arms and started dragging him off.

The movement was enough to jostle the man conscious for a second long enough for him to let out a pained groan before passing out again.

"Hmm," Puppet said, "And remember…"

They stopped dragging for a moment to look back at the Marionette.

"Make sure he's _awake_ when you start," the Puppet said darkly.

 **Sorry this wasn't posted first. This was supposed to be the actual Chapter 1/Prologue but I lost it. Oops. Then I found it and fixed it.**


	2. Homecoming

**She needed her own story…everyone does…in the end. Do you recognize her?**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Homecoming**

 _I've lived just long enough to realize humility isn't degraded oneself before others; it's really knowing your strengths and your weaknesses. Knowing when you can stand tall and proud, an ironic phrase in my case, and when to let someone else take the spotlight even if that's difficult._

 _I think part of my humility is knowing how patient I am. I think I need an award for my patience when dealing with difficult people. Well…a few of the ones I'm talking about are not exactly "people" per say, depending on what definition is used. But I count them as people; and even if they weren't, they are still very difficult to deal with. I'm not exactly known for hanging around the best crowds. It's like I'm a magnet for people who are just…lost. I got my problems. Other have theirs. I may not approve of some of my friends from college getting drunk and partying out all night, but that doesn't stop me from handing out headache pills in the morning or letting someone borrow class notes. I don't need to be one of my friend's problems unless they really deserve it. The ambiguous "people" I mentioned earlier deserved it sometimes. A lot of times._

 _I get close to people that aren't exactly healthy relationships for me but I can handle it. I don't mind being a friend to broken people. I don't go around making buddies with murderers and the like, I'm not insane, but if I think someone just needs help or guidance I'm always there. I'm a fixer. It's simply who I am. And I can't fix something or someone unless I'm willing to get close and learn how they work._

 _Someone who I met not long after these little misadventures once asked me why I put myself in a position to be hurt by those close to me. Granted, they were kind of sobbing/yelling at me when they asked me this and I was pretty out of it at the time, but my scrambled brains managed to gather that they thought I got hurt because of them._

 _So what? The only one blaming her was herself…and a few of my meaner friends…but that doesn't make it true. It most certainly wasn't her fault and it was wrong for the others to blame her._

 _She's a good kid…bit nuts…but her heart is in the right place._

 _I made mistakes. Major ones stemming from very blind, very bad decisions. My friend made mistakes. A couple other friends made a LOT of serious mistakes…But as long as someone's willing to try making things better, I think there is always room for forgiveness and healing. I just think there's got to be someone or something nearby to point a person in the right direction. And I was willing to do that and maybe get hurt if it meant more people wouldn't be so lost…like my brother was…_

 _My answer to my friend's question was something like that._

 _At least I think it was. I was on a lot of pain meds at the time so I may have just glared at my friend and called her a stupid candy bar. There was a metaphor there. I'm sure of it._

 _Pretty sappy huh? Aw well. Those events leading up to that conversation weren't pleasant so I need a little sappiness._

 _I was such an idiot. I wanted to do something very bad because I was afraid. I could lie to myself all I want and try to convince myself that what I attempted was self-sacrificial. That I was nobly giving up my humanity so that other wouldn't suffer. But I know I was wrong. People very close to me would have suffered had I gone through…with...it. For the first time in years I was being forced into the mind of a frightened little girl who lost so much and I hated it. So I pushed back, almost getting myself killed in the process._

 _I just hope my friends would be able to forgive me for what I wanted to do…_

 _But that's in the future. It's a story for another time._

 _My friend would most certainly disagree (we do that a lot), but sometimes you have to look at the past to see beyond the next bad thing life throws at you. To remind you of who you are._

 _Aren't I optimistic…?_

 _I may be a "fixer" but just wait until you see what I had to put up with. There are some things I wish I could have done differently, but in the end it was the good and the bad that made me who I am._

 _Given the chance, would I really want to change that?_

* * *

It was very late. It was also a new moon so the only light readily available was the one light from the back of the house that was on a timer to discourage burglars. That and the eerie light that was casting long shadows from the streetlight behind her.

The twenty year old had a penlight in her mouth shedding light on the lock of her front door as she swore in her head. She would have to unlock the door by feel since the light wasconnected to her keychain and her cell phone battery was dead.

There was very little she disliked more than traveling. Coming home being part of it. Not only were plane tickets expensive but it was always a hassle for her, since she had to arrive _two hours_ before boarding actually started so that the airline people can help her get situated. Then she had to suffer through three hours practically dehydrated so that she wouldn't need to go to the bathroom. She only made that mistake once when she was twelve.

While traveling wasn't the greatest experience, summer vacation was.

She always did the same thing every year. While most of her college friends went off partying or did internships, some did the same as her and visited family. Though she wasn't sure how many stayed for the nearly the whole summer…

It was also pretty great that her twin niece and nephew had their birthday in July. Birthdays actually. Mercedes was born five minutes before midnight and Marcus was born three minutes after.

The key finally slipped into the lock and she cheered at her luck, uncaring about the cranky old people she had for neighbors.

"She once again defies all odds stacked against her as she ventures into the black unknown," she muttered tiredly, imitating her father as she pushed the door all the way open. In that moment the doorway resembled a black hole, empty and void of light. She grabbed her suitcase and awkwardly rolled it behind her through the door with one hand and maneuvered herself through with the other.

Except for the faint kitchen light coming from the end of the hallway, it was almost completely dark. She could barely see two inches in front of her face.

"Stupid light switch," she said as she closed the door behind her and felt the wall for the hallway light.

Purple dots exploding inside her head as the lights flooded her eyes. When she could see again, she simply locked the door and headed to her bedroom, dragging her luggage behind.

The house smelled like old nasty dust. And smoke just a little, but the broken air conditioner was to blame for that.

After letting her luggage drop on the red carpet of her room, the ash blond glared coldly at the clock. Jet lag sucked.

The college student sighed, knowing sleep wasn't going to come easy, and made her way to the kitchen where her home phone was. It was probably full of a bunch of telemarketers calling over the summer. Almost everyone important actually had her cell phone number, thankfully, but she liked a home phone for less urgent things.

She grabbed a laptop case on her way out of the room. Once in the kitchen, which was painted mostly a terrible shade of lime green, she quickly plugged her laptop into her answering machine. As a project in one of her classes, she actually built an answering machine that logged voicemails like an email.

"Oh come on," she moaned as she saw the list of nearly seven hundred voicemails. That shouldn't be possible. With a groan and a need to do _something_ besides sleeping, she began to filter out most of the repeating 800 numbers. There were a few, however, that she wanted to hear.

"Insurance. Insurance. Car dealership. Insurance. Doctor, marking that. Junk. Junk. Junk," she murmured. She suddenly stopped on one number, staring at the caller ID for a moment before she hesitantly pressed the button.

" _Hello? Hello hello,"_ a familiar voice came through the speaker while the young woman cracked a reserved grin. " _H-hey stinker! So sorry about this but I, uh, may have lost your cell phone number. It's been pretty hectic here at work and…well…my personal phone…got broken._

 _Again._

 _Yeah… Uh, I got a new one…but I lost a lot of contacts from the old one. I would ask your brother but he's pretty mad at me at the moment…a-as you can imagine…"_

Her mood soured as she got a glass from the cabinet. Her brother and uncle were always arguing about the latter's job.

" _Yeah. So. A-anyway…one more week! Heh… not that I don't appreciate the early retirement but I'm gonna miss this place…"_

She took a sip of her water but gave the phone a weary look.

" _You probably already left for the summer so you probably won't get this until you get back. T-that's okay! I know I wrote your number down somewhere and I'll probably find it soon. Say hi to your brother for me! And the kiddos too. Geez. I must be getting old. I remember when you were little and still blew cake frosting out your nose…yelling something about snot-rockets."_

The blonde's eyes widened and she choked as a gulp of water went down the wrong pipe. "Thaaaanks," she muttered sarcastically, "You forgot my birthday but you remember _that_. A- plus." She still couldn't help but smile fondly at the man's voice.

What the man on the phone said next made her freeze.

" _I-I know you kids don't like me talking about it b-but I just thought I'd let you know. I'm not suggesting anything….but…just in case. We, um,"_ he stalled, hesitant, _"We haven't had much luck finding a night guard fo_ r _this next week. So…"_

"Don't you dare…" she warned. She gripped the glass tightly.

" _I'm going to have to take up the night shift,"_ he sounded almost apologetic.

The dirty blonde haired girl closed her gray eyes and sunk into her chair a bit.

" _N-no worry's though,"_ he laughed slightly nervous, _"I got it handled. I'm just going to finish up my last week here. Then I'm out. J-just like I promised."_

"Been trying to convince you to quit for the past decade Uncle Scott," she scolded, momentarily forgetting it was just a recording. And from a couple months ago at that.

" _A-anyway, uh, the management also asked me to make some training tapes for later guards. You know…so they don't get any, um...surprises… s-since I won't be there to show them the ropes when I leave. Not a problem. Isn't the first time. You're brother knows… what I mean…"_ he trailed off with an awkward cough. " _Anyway, shift's starting soon…I…I should go. Sorry I missed you. I'll call soon as I find your cell number 'kay Owl? Talk to you soon, bye."_

She was still wearily slumped in her chair as she frowned thoughtfully at the phone. She never got a call from him all summer. Guess he never found her number.

She sighed and ran a hand down her face. It was too late to be calling him now. He's probably getting a well-deserved sleep. She's just going to have to wait. After all, they haven't talked in months. What's a couple more hours? Plus, she was too tired to listen to any more voicemails. So much for jetlag...

"Tomorrow," Hedy decided with a yawn as she turned her wheelchair out the kitchen door and wheeled off to bed, not bothering to change into some night clothes before dropping off to sleep on the dusty comforter.

There was still one thought that rolled around in her head as she lost consciousness.

 _At least he's keeping his promise this time. One last week..._

 _Just one._

* * *

 **Hey guys! Corona Pax here. I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's however Hedy is my own character. How many of you recognize her? From where? :P And sorry if you're confused and think I posted this chapter twice. I actually replaced CH1 with the prologue that was suppose to be there. So if this is the first Chapter you read, go back one and read the real kickoff.**


	3. Uncles and Cars

**If you're curious about my writing style, basically it's a double sided view of events from Hedy's point of view. The first part is in first person and in the future (or present) as she reflects on "past" events. And they aren't in perfect chronological order. Meanwhile the main part of the story is third person account of the same "past" events but from a linear perspective.**

 **Wow. Hit Exactly 100 views today. Cool!**

 **Kudos to TrailWriter and Balance2000 for your guesses! You get a cake! (Oh wait…the cake was a lie? Never mind then….) Uh how about some internet cookies. You get them every time you visit this story after all. And when you review. You probably get two when you review. Hey that rhymed!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Uncles and Cars**

 _Dear Journal/Diary/Log/ Whatever-the-heck-you-are,_

 _First impressions? The night guard is nuts. Completely and utterly nuts. In fact, she's a fruitcake WITH nuts on top._

 _For one, she's a reckless teenager. Yeah, all teenagers go through some phase of craziness at one point or another, but not all of them insist on playing a game of life and death (not an expression) with murderous animatronics. Twice apparently. Honestly though….she wouldn't need to if I had actually succeeded at the Warehouse._

 _Secondly, I hate to admit it but she gives off this impression that she's most definitely going to "win." I'll admit that it's good she's that confident (what am I saying?!) But too much confidence means you're more likely to make a mistake._

 _Luckily, that's the kind of confidence a few of the Toys have. An arrogant kind._

 _I'll do my best to sabotage if I can, but Puppet's watching._

 _They start their sick game tomorrow. I know how it works. This is Night 0._

… _How'd she get Puppet in that box so fast? I'm pretty sure he disliked glitter before, now I'm sure he hates it._

* * *

Henry Tops the Third considered himself a pretty nice guy. Yeah, maybe a little strict with his employees but he tried to be fair.

It had been a while since he had actually worked on a car himself, but he was just too busy being the boss of his little automotive repair shop.

That's exactly what he was doing, in the form of chewing out a mechanic for spilling coffee in a customer's backseat, when the daughter of one of his best friends showed up at the shop.

"WIGGY!" he crowed in his deep booming voice that startled even his long time employees who should have long been used to his…boisterous…personality.

The poor man who thought he was about to be fired jumped right out of his skin.

Tops ignored him for moment and went to greet the girl.

"Hey Uncle Tops," Hedy sighed in slight annoyance as she wheeled further into the garage. Yeah. Hedy's dad was a really friendly guy and had a lot of close friends, thus Hedy had a lot of "Uncles" that she wasn't really related to by blood. Not that it really mattered. Family was family after all. Including all the embarrassing nicknames. "Don't call me Wiggy please."

Tops smirked and clapped her on the back hard enough to almost knock her out of her chair. "Sure thing kiddo. How was the flight home?"

"Slept most of the way," Hedy muttered as he straightened herself up with a wince, "Hey, have you heard from Scott?"

"No. You know we don't talk much kid," Tops said with a slight scold, "Haven't really talked since your dad's funeral." He looked at Hedy's slightly worried eyes. "What's up?"

Hedy shrugged, "Nothing. He...uh…just didn't pick up his phone this morning. And I figured you wouldn't have talked to him. I just came to get my car."

Tops scoffed slightly derisively, "Well you know how much of a scatter brain he is." He waved at one of the younger mechanics and shouted over the noise "Jack! Go get Hedy's truck from out back!"

The mechanic nodded and waved at Hedy with a smile as he went out the back door.

Hedy waved back.

"Who drove you here?" Tops asked.

"Public Transit System," Hedy said shortly.

"Oh. _That_ must've have been fun." He laughed, knowing how much Hedy disliked the town's local taxi service for the disabled. "Don't worry about Scott, Hedy. He's a grown man. Probably just sleeping off a hangover."

Hedy just shrugged again and rolled her eyes muttering, "He doesn't drink."

Of all her dad's old friends, Tops was always the overachiever. For himself of course, but he always was wanting to push others to be their best selves and he somewhat resented Scott for "never wanting to be anything more that low pay rent-a-cop." He always thought the man could do better.

In his opinion, he didn't have to worry about Hedy. Top of her class with 4.0s. Already with a Bachelors in engineering with two minors. She was going places.

Speaking of….

"Oh hey! You still looking for a job right?" he stood up straight and started walking away abruptly.

"Yeah? Something my professor can sign off on." Hedy followed him to his office, careful to avoid the men and women busy working on the cars.

"Well I just might have something right up your alley," he said as he started shifting through the mess on his desk, "Now where is it…"

"Um, what happened to Caroline?" Hedy asked, meaning Tops' secretary.

"Day off," said Henry Tops from under his desk as he collected some more papers. "Aha! OW!" He swore and rubbed the top of his head where he hit it.

"Ow. Geez. Here," he roughly handed her a paper while he walked across the hallway to get ice from the staffroom.

Hedy laughed loudly, soon running out of breath. "I thought 'heads-ups' were supposed to be good things?"

"Ah shut it," Tops muttered with a plastic baggie full of ice on his head. He gestured to the phone number on the paper. "Some guys came in last week looking for me to recommend an experienced mechanic for a contract repair job, preferably an engineer. They were businessmen I think. They wore suits and everything. Pays not the best I admit, but okay, and the job looks like it'd look good on your resume. If they like your work you might get a more permanent job with them. I went ahead and suggested you. Gave them a copy of your resume while I was at it."

"Wow. Thanks Uncle Tops," Hedy said. She looked over the paper in her hands, turning it over a few times. There was nothing but the number. "But who's the employer? What's the job?"

She looked up when all she got was silence. "Tops?"

Tops sighed and gave her a look.

She didn't like that look. That was the look he gave someone when he's about to tell them something they won't like.

"Uncle Tops?" It was her turn to use a scolding voice.

"Heds." He spoke slowly. "It's up to you to take the job. But just consider it okay? I think it'd be good for you. Chance at closure and all."

Hedy lowered her voice and said coldly, "What are you talking about? What's the job?"

Tops told her, after a moment of hesitation.

"WHAT!? You did _WHAT_?!"

The guy who was coming to tell his boss the young woman's car was out front stopped in his tracks at the furious shouting. Jack glanced at some of the other mechanics who shook their heads and drew lines over their necks with their fingers. He gulped and walked backwards.

Hedy was a well know visitor of the garage…and she didn't get angry easily.

" _Don't_ risk it man," one guy said.

"Not an idiot," Jack snapped and went to wait until they were done arguing to bring Hedy's keys.

The office door was closed and it was hard to hear anything. Mechanic shops are supposed to be loud on a good day. However, despite all that, Jack could still make out some words.

"They know…what if they decided….!"

"….fine. Just…."

"I can't believe you…"

"-own good…don't have to."

"—can't!"

"-broken…just a week!"

"HECK NO! You weren't there!"

Jack winced. Yikes. He could see them through the glass and both, the fifty year old black man who stood at 6'2'' and the twenty year old white woman in a wheelchair, were giving each other nasty stare downs.

Finally, Henry Tops the Third huffed and handed a few more papers to Hedy and walked out of his office without another word.

He didn't even look at Jack as he passed.

Hedy followed a couple minutes later and shot him a glare. It was like she knew he was listening.

Jack raised his hands in surrender, eye wide under her stare.

"Keys please, Mr. Ramirez." Hedy held out her hand expectantly.

Jack didn't move except to release her keys and let them drop into her hands.

"Thanks Jack," Hedy said as she left.

"Have a nice…day…Hedy," Jack trailed off. She was already gone…

Once at her truck Hedy climbed into the driver seat and operated the mechanical arm attached to the back that would lift up her chair and secure it in the bed.

"What was he _thinking!"_ she hissed to herself as she leaned her head on the steering wheel.

She couldn't get over the feeling of betrayal that was tapping into her usually very controlled temper.

At least it was only a recommendation. It's not like they'd seek her out unless she called them first right?

…Right?

Wrong! Tops actually said they might stop by at the college looking for her to do an interview. They seemed really interested in her resume. Actually, Hedy was more concerned about them showing up at her home.

Of course they'd be interested given who her dad was! Of course a company like that would keep records of past employees (if it suited their purposes). So of course they'd look into her!

Hedy groaned and ran her hand down her face in exasperation. Not going to happen. No way. No matter how hard they would try to convince her, she wasn't taking that job.

With that resolve, Hedy put the truck in gear and used the modified hand controls to drive away.

Most of the rest of the day was uneventful. Errands. Shopping. Muttering about busy body not-my-Dads in her life. Boring stuff that no one would care to read.

Until she got home.

Yeah, she was worried about a certain group of people tracking her down but she figured she had a couple of days to mentally prepare a big fat "no!" to spit in their faces. That was completely her right, of course. She'd never go groveling to them for a job. Not after what they did.

Much to her surprise and slight horror, when she turned onto her street there were two men walking from her front porch to a fancy black sedan that sat by the curb. They seemed to have just checked if she was home.

Maybe if she just drove by and circled back around…

Too late. The younger of the two men spotted her.

With as straight a face as she could manage, Hedy parked in her driveway.

How did they know she was back in town? She wasn't too surprised that they knew where her house was but she had only gotten home last night! Tops wouldn't have called them like this, but it's possible that he might have slipped when she'd be back.

"Can I help you?" Hedy said with a convincing smile as she worked on getting out.

* * *

Liam Ingerson had always wanted to be a lawyer since he was thirteen. Truth. Justice. All that jazz. That's what he had signed up for.

What he did NOT sign up for was to be dragged across town to convince a college student to work for one of their clients.

Who the heck sends attorneys on a recruiting job?! It's ridiculous. But it wasn't his job to argue with his boss and this client was the biggest one they had. They had been in a partnership for nearly twenty years! That was almost unheard of between law firms and big corporations. So in the end "shut up and do your job" was the message he had to listen to.

He and his mentor walked up to the woman as a weird arm thingy set a wheelchair on the ground next to her.

Her smile seemed…nice enough, but Liam was good as reading people. "Empathic" he thought it was called. There was something else behind her eyes. Something cold. Distrustful.

This was going to a hard sell. But if they were careful-

"Can I help you?"

"Perhaps you can. We're here representing the interest of our client, Fazbear Entertainment," the older man, Liam's "mentor" said. "And we have an employment opportunity that you uniquely-."

"No."

So much for that idea.

* * *

 _ **Sending text….**_

 **R: Really? Just… "no?" You can do better than that. That was a completely boring response. Very you.**

 **H: Haw Haw. Well how'd you feel if someone just showed up at your door wanting you to work for them? Invasion of privacy is just the icing on the cake.**

 **R: Nobody shows up at my door ;P We haven't had a salesman show up in the last three years.**

 **H: Probably because of that demonic lawnmower of yours.**

 **R: Speaking of,** **I was thinking of bringing Little Mowey to work tonight.**

 **H:…**

 **R: lol**

 **H: Fruitcake -_-**

 **R: Stick-in-the-Mud ^ ^**

 **(A plot bunny be biting me so there will likely be an extra chapter up tomorrow. More action too. :)**


	4. Eyes

**I didn't like the last chapter. It felt blech if that makes any sense. Thus I intend to make up for it with this one and the next. Read on dear friends. Read on…**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Eyes**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Soooo. Got a call from the manager today. He told me the bots, ALL OF THEM (dangit), need to be in top shape because there' an inspector coming. A certain lawyer. He's supposed to do double checks to make sure we're good for the insurance guys. If those poor saps only knew…_

 _And guess who the lawyer is? Yep. Him. That backstabbing, butt-kissing little….!_

 _Anyway, me and my coworker are not going to be leaving at 6am like usual, because the company wants this "lawyer" (laughable really) to meet most of the staff in the morning. Namely, the night guard and the night mechanic. Yeah, "I wonder why?" she writes sarcastically. I'm debating telling our "friendly" night guard what happened between us. On the other hand, maybe the Toys scarred him enough. Then again, I really hate him…_

* * *

"Psst…"

"Mmm…"

"Pst!"

"Not now."

"Yes now! I heard something!"

"Probably just a rat; go tell Mangle."

"Mangle's not feeling well and _it's not a rat_!"

Toy Bonnie cracked opened his one good eye and glared at Toy Chica. Being left to rot for fifteen years takes its toll on robots. It wasn't so bad the first eight years since they had something to do. A reason to keep themselves in relatively good condition. But now? Now they needed a longer time to recharge just to sit around and talk to each for a couple hours.

Toy Chica was cutting into Toy Bonnie's precious recharge time.

"Leave me alone T—," Toy Bonnie started to snap but the chicken beat him to it.

"I think it's people!" Toy Chica chittered excitedly.

Toy Bonnie's ears perked up, or rather the one and a half that was still functional, but they deflated after a moment?

"Adults? Or kids." It was ridiculous, he knew, but he couldn't help hoping to see another child.

Toy Chica seemed to have the same thought because she suddenly looked a little crestfallen, even in the low light. "Adults I think." She seethed.

"Gah," spat the rabbit, "I'm betting they're not staying for the night shift either?" His voice dripped sarcasm.

"Don't think so. I'm going to wake Puppet. Mangle's being nasty."

"Oh. I guess I'll wake up Toy Freddy," Toy Bonnie shrugged. He winced, using the shelving he was stored next to pull himself up, shaking some dust off while he was at it.

Once standing, both the chicken and the rabbit gave each other _that_ look. One of them was going to have to do it, but neither wanted to.

"Nose goes!" Toy Chica shouted but her voice box cracked and it came out as a rasp.

"That can't count! You don't have a nose!" Toy Bonnie whined.

Toy Chica rolled her eyes but lowered her hand anyway. "Fine Mr. Pouty-pants. Rock. Paper. Scissors."

The blue rabbit nodded sharply and they both put out the least damaged hands.

Toy Chica won.

"Two out of three?"

"Ha! Have fun!" she chirped as she limped away.

Toy Bonnie scoffed "I let you win," he growled.

His friend just giggled at him and waved as she went to the section of the warehouse where Puppet had decided to stay, his box tucked under some shelf in the J section.

Ugh. Toy Freddy would be the easiest to find. Maybe Toy Bonnie could convince him to help find the other member of their little crew.

…Yeah right. He knew what the bear would say. "You lost him, you find him."

He didn't lose him! He just…didn't go looking for him. Totally different things.

Toy Bonnie was so engrossed in thinking about why it wasn't his fault no one had seen Balloon Boy in days that he didn't notice someone poking their head over the edge of a shelf above him to watch him pass underneath.

Nor did he notice that robot preparing to jump until it was too late.

"BATTERIES!"

"ARRGH!"

Five aisles over, Toy Chica forced a snicker. It was going to cost her three double-A's that she found _way_ over in section Y. But it was so worth it.

Suddenly, the sound of talking reached her and she looking up in panic. They were coming her way!

The place wasn't in lockdown yet so they couldn't risk being seen, even if they were all in full view of the cameras. The day guards were idiots; they never actually checked those things so Toy Chica usually felt comfortable walking around before lockdown, so long as she was careful.

But this wasn't 'careful.' She was going to be seen. Then she spotted something off-white out the corner of her eye.

Two adults turned the corner, talking about some kind of agreement as they passed a cloth covered statue.

* * *

 **Earlier**

Well….

This day sucked!

Twenty-four hours ago, things didn't suck.

Yes, she hated flying but this last trip wasn't the worse one she'd been on. And that voicemail from Uncle Scott, while worrying, did not enter into the realm of "suck."

But ever since she woke up that morning things have just taken a downward turn around every corner.

She called her uncle, just like she planned, as soon as she was able to drag herself (literally) out of bed and into some clean yet slightly wrinkled clothing. She tried calling at least five different numbers.

All she got was either an annoying "We're sorry. The number you have called has been disconnected" or a voicemail saying "Hello? Hello, hello. This is Scott. Leave a message!"

That added to the fear that had been slowly growing overnight. Something was wrong. She knew it.

Then, in hope of distracting herself, she went through the daily errands. Picking up her truck from Henry Tops was the first thing on her list but even that soured quickly.

True, he had only done what she asked him to do and helped her on a job search as a favor, but he should have known how giving her resume to those people would make her feel.

He did know. And he did it anyway. He didn't understand. He didn't know what really happened. He only ever saw the aftermath they let others see.

Then when Hedy got home after a couple hours, what did she find but two men in business suits knocking on her door?

That was fun. She got to her door just fine by pretending to listen to their rambling, but as soon as she was inside she slammed the door in their faces hard enough to rattle the picture frames hanging on the walls.

They were persistent though. The older man attempted to do most of the talking and he would have too if Hedy hadn't rudely interrupted every sentence. The man who looked to be around her age seemed to be trying to resist laughing after five minutes had passed.

Can you blame her for being a little hostile?

Okay, a lot hostile?

Liam was maybe a little too amused watching his partner's goal transition from "getting the girl to take the job" to "getting the girl to let him get a word in edgewise."

It was Ms. Hedy threatening to roast them alive with the flamethrower she was holding up to the keyhole that finally got his partner John to cut-bait and leave. Of course, neither of them believed she actually had a flamethrower but it seemed like a good excuse to let the matter drop and retreat.

"Why that little…" John Cave muttered as he stalked past Liam and down the driveway.

However, Liam lingered. He pulled out a few papers from his briefcase along with his business card and wedged them in the mail slot. He flashed a smile at the wooden door.

Hedy waited until the other one impatiently honked the horn of his car and the younger man darted off the porch in a rush before she lowered the lighter and modified hairspray can from the door's keyhole. When she was sure they were gone, she pulled the papers out of the mail slot.

She stared at them for a moment. Then she read a few pages. Thanks to her brother, she was able to cut through all the legal jargon fairly easily. Although, she didn't really need to. She knew what the job was already.

This was dredging up all kinds of memories, good ones scattered amongst the bad.

Even with Uncle Scott still working at that place, the pizzeria left this…scar on her family. A scar that she had successfully managed to avoid for fifteen years. Why now? Why was she being dragged back into this now? And so suddenly at that. It didn't make much sense. Then again, what happened to her and her brother didn't make much sense in the first place. Still didn't.

Hedy huffed softly and set the papers aside for a moment when she made her way to the living room. They kind of just..sat there, almost tauntingly even though she knew that was a ridiculous idea.

A few hours later, after dinner, they were still there. Hedy wasn't sure why she didn't just throw them away. Or better yet burn them. It would be so satisfying.

Around nine she decided to look for more of Scott's messages on her answering machine.

She found one. Completely on accident. She just happened to stop on the phone number when she took a break from scrolling.

 _"Hello hel—damnit Foxy you'd better—."_ He was interrupted by a harsh clanking bang followed by what sounded like sharp knocking of metal on metal.

Hedy blinked in surprise. What was that noise?

" _Er…Hello? Did I miss the beep? I missed the beep. Hey Owl! Just calling to check it. I figured while I'm making recording for the new guys…I uh…just a s-second."_ He stopped talking for a moment and there was a rapid clicking noise. " _Okay clear for now. Um…heh… a-anyway. I thought since I'm making recordings for the newbies with the phone recorder I might as well give you a call. You're always my favorite call buddy after all."_

Hedy smirked. It was a joke they had. When she was a little girl, she was terrified of ordering take-out for her dad, her brother, and herself. If her dad was busy, she called Scott for help. He told her that whenever she had to call someone, be it a customer service desk, a pizza order person, or even a teacher, that she should treat them like a friend. Be nice. Be funny. And if all else failed, he would be staying right on the next line if she needed help. Her backup, or as he like to say, her "call buddy."

Of course, it would have been preferable if he were actually _there_ next to her to give her this advice but at the time they were hundreds of miles apart due to her dad deciding to move away so long ago.

" _Er…so things have been…uneventful… here…at work. Oh geez!"_

Wow. Where should she start with that sentence?

" _NOTHING! That was n-nothing!"_ he assured quickly, _"Just thought I s-saw something! Not that I, y-you know, see things that aren't really there a lot. Heh…That'd be crazy."_

"Hmm," mumbled Hedy as she sighed nervously. She didn't want to listen to him work. "Just stop talking and concentrate please," she begged.

Hearing him was nice and all, but she'd really rather him be paying attention to whatever was going on over there.

 _"Everything's going well by the way. Um…I mean…it is the night shift of course…but…You know what? Nevermind."_

There was silence for a long moment that left Hedy checking to see if he hung up.

He began speaking again, however Scott'ss voice seemed to take on a slightly different tone. He distractedly mumbled something Hedy probably shouldn't have been able to hear.

 _"…No…It's too early."_

It was so quiet, Hedy almost missed it. She frowned. Something was up.

When he spoke again, louder, his voice seemed weirdly forced and…slightly sad. " _Hey kiddo? This is going to sound strange and really mean of me but…do you remember when…."_ There was another silence for a minute, filled only by clicking and the squeaks of a swivel chair.

Hedy waited.

 _"Do you remember when…it…happened?"_ He forced the words out like they tasted bad. He knew he didn't need to be specific. Not with Hedy.

It.

Suddenly, Hedy was angry. It was her own special brand of cold, gut wrenching anger that was slow to come and quick to leave, but not without first terrifying the recipient. It was a rare person that saw that kind of righteous anger, for good reason. And yet, it was only a tiny bit that was ever coming to the surface. The rest was still far below, deep in her heart.

That anger was reserved for an unique someone else and she would never let it out on anyone undeserving, especially not Uncle Scott. No matter what he said.

But she was still angry. After the kind of day she had, you wouldn't blame her. Why did the one person she trust not to bring "it" up do just that?

"Yes." She answered unnecessarily, forgetting once again that he wasn't really talking to her.

 _"Do you remember…how scared you were?"_

What was the point of remembering!? Are far as Hedy could tell, there was absolutely no reason to bring any of this up, especially not on a voicemail he knew she wouldn't hear for months.

…He must have known…

Strange. Scott was not a confrontational guy. So why would he mention _it_ months in advance when he knew Hedy was going to confront him about it as soon as she got home? Why would he _plan_ an argument he knew Hedy was going to make him a part of?

Scott suddenly changed his tone of voice so fast, Hedy was left just a little stunned.

 _"Do me a favor will you Owl?"_ His voice was lighter, joking almost. " _Check your dad's old manuals would ya? See if they say anything about the animatronics' eyes acting strange."_

Hedy could have sworn she heard an audible gulp.

" _Y-you know…like the eye lights changing to white kind of strange. W-white or..ah.. s-silver. It's my…l-last week here right? How about be go out someplace to celebrate when you get home. Actually, you celebrate, I mourn. How's that sound?"_

He abruptly hung up without even a goodbye leaving Hedy gaping at the phone.

Silver.

Eye-lights changing to white. That sounded familiar the second he said that.

Within minutes Hedy was in her garage rifling through old boxes stored under one of her workbenches.

Half of her garage was for the truck, Jo-jo, while the other half was her workshop and serious computer lab. Hedy had packed up the all the clutter and stored away the expensive stuff before she left so she couldn't remember where she put anything, much less the old manuals her dad left her.

She was cursing herself in her head. Why now? She gave up looking for evidence years ago. She thought she put it behind her. Everyone else forgot, so why shouldn't she? But…something was nagging at her once again. Maybe it was the phone calls. Maybe it was the job being shoved in her face. Maybe it was the people at her door. Maybe…it was nothing.

"Where the heck are they?" she said to herself. She couldn't find the books in any of the lower cabinets or in the boxes under the tables. Then, against her better judgment, she looked up.

Yep. There they were. Up on the highest shelf where she often left things she would probably never need down. There was a stack of thick paperback books collecting dust. She also noticed her high school diploma and the bottom of her graphing calculator peeking over the edge.

With a twinge of annoyance Hedy thought back to just which of her friends helped with the cleaning several months earlier.

It was probably AJ who did it. The jokester. Maybe if the circumstances were different she might laugh but as it was, her mood was already sour.

One expensive broken calculator and some broken glass later she picked up the book, shaking glass out as she flipped through the pages before landing on the page she was thinking of.

It was a section that dealt with optical sensors, the animatronics eyes.

In big bold red letters in the margin were the words "SILVER EYES?" with a large question mark.

She checked the clock in the kitchen once back inside. It was late, nearly ten thirty.

So what.

She went to the living room.

The phone rang three times before a voice answered.

 _"Go for…"_ A yawn _. "Ingerson."_

Hedy couldn't help but smirk. She didn't even know the guy and she already knew enough about him to tell that yawn was cringingly fake.

"You're one of the jokers who decided it was a good idea to ambush me at my home." It wasn't a question.

The was a sound of papers being shuffled and a laptop being closed.

The young man sighed long-sufferingly. _"Look miss,"_ he said, obviously mentally preparing himself to deal with what he viewed as a "difficult person."

" _I was just doing my job,"_ he defended, _"We were just in the neighborhood and thought it was a good idea to stop by to discuss the job. If you have a complaint, I'm more than happy to connect you to the firm I work for."_

Hedy laughed.

" _Is something funny?"_

"Yeah. The fact you think I'm not going to question how you could possibly 'be in the neighborhood."

 _"I don't know what you're talking about."_

"My house in certainly not on the way to anything in town. It's the very definition of 'out of the way.' You can't just happen to come this way unless it's on purpose. You better have a good reason to be stalking me."

" _I think you may be a little paranoid ma'am."_ The man on the other side said with sterness.

"Heh. Does your boss tell you to call people paranoid when they catch you? Deflecting guilt? Anyway, I have a few questions."

Hedy held the phone away from her mouth for a moment and took a breath. Her instincts were screaming at her.

"Trying to hire people isn't usually in an attorney's job description. Why are you guys so interested in getting me into a repair job?"

There was quiet for a moment.

"How much did they tell you?" Hedy prompted, "Do you know all the company's dirty little secrets? Including me and my family?"

" _Even if I knew what you're talking about, I would be bound by attorney/client confidentiality and couldn't tell you anyway."_ He seemed to almost recite that from a textbook.

"Good luck finding another mechanic then. You guys seemed pretty desperate. Nobody in their right mind in this town is going to take that job. But I figure you know that already if you came looking for _me_ of all people…." Hedy moved to hang up. "Were you banking on my nostalgia?"

" _Wait."_ He spoke hurriedly, in slight panic.

"What?"

" _I-I'm sure we can come to some kind of an agreement."_

"Depends. There's information I want."

" _I'll bet. I have your file right here."_ There was a shuffling of papers. " _It's one of the biggest ones here."_ His spoke jokingly. Friendly. " _Tell you what. My client needs this repair job done soon. The deadline is next month but the sooner the better. We're already behind schedule since nobody's doing the work."_

This guy's tone of voice was really starting to grind on Hedy's nerves.

"And you've got no takers," she asked.

Silence was all the answer she needed.

Hedy huffed, pressing the phone to her leg to stifle the shuddering that escaped her lungs so that the guy on the other end couldn't hear. This was such a bad idea.

"So I do this job. Then what?"

" _You tell me. I can get you a meeting with the chairman if you want? Meetings, documents, a raise. I could probably pull anything off if you took the job."_

Hedy huffed, a slight laugh slipping through. "Anything?"

 _"Within reason of course."_

 _"_ Can you get me information about why the eyes would turn white."

" _Um…"_ Liam paused, genuinely confused. _"Probably?"_

"What about the murders and missing people?"

"…. _You know that's just a myth right?"_

"…." Hedy glared at the phone.

" _O-okay, I'll see what I can do."_

Hedy scoffed. She paused, weighing her options. The books in the garage wouldn't tell her anything new. She'd already read them many times. She at least hoped there was something scribbled something in the margins she missed.

Something was wrong with Uncle Scott and she hadn't been able to reach him. The internet never helped the last time she went looking for answers and newspaper copies have been missing for years.

It wasn't ideal, but it was an opportunity.

"Fine. I'll do it. I'll have a couple more requests though."

" _Good! That's great! Whatever you need."_ Going by his voice, one might have guessed Hedy just said yes to his marriage proposal.

"You guys are really desperate for a mechanic."

" _Guilty as charged."_

Hedy groaned. "Okay. What are the specifics?"

She gently rolled herself back and forth as she listened. She really hoped this was the right decision...


	5. Just a Short Tour

**Author's Note: Apologies in advance...I didn't grammar check as much as I should have. And this is long chapter. Sorry. Or maybe not. Don't you readers like long chapters?**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Just a Short Tour**

* * *

 _Dear Log,_

 _Who's freaking idea was it to give the night guard SUGAR?! I can't get the chocolate out of my chair! My only consolation is that she going to be to really sore from that fall later on._

 _(PS. From the awesome night guard who has found Hedy's_ journal _girly-girl DIARY weeks after previous entry.) NO ONE GIVES ME SUGAR MORTAL! I TAKE IT! MWAHHAHAHAHA! PREPARE TO FACE MY SUGAR HELL HEATHEN! Also, you should hide your journal better. And your ice-cream. I mean, OF COURSE your fridge is the first place I'm going to raid. See you tonight! ;)_

* * *

This was not the right decision.

This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea.

"Sure it's alright for us to be here this late?" Hedy asked as Liam typed a code into the keypad next to the large metal door.

"Yeah. I had some paperwork I had to pick up today anyway. I was going to put if off till tomorrow but I figured—."

"That we might as well get this over with?" Hedy said. She eyed the doorway as she passed under it, half expected it squash down and crush her. Besides the fact that she was meeting someone she barely knew out in the middle of nowhere, there was something else bothering her. She couldn't put her finger on it, just the vague idea that she shouldn't be there.

Logically, she knew these robots weren't the ones that were the urban legends everyone in town knew. These were different. She wasn't sure, but she remembered that they were only working for a few weeks. A few catastrophic weeks...

Never mind. She knew exactly what was bothering her.

"You know, I get the feeling when you asked how soon you could get a look at them that you didn't expect _this_ soon," Liam said.

He was right. She expected to get a look at them within the next couple of days, but not that very night. However, if there was a single word she could use to describe the man before her "efficient" would be near the top of her list.

"Not really but it's fine. I just didn't expect to meet up with a stranger at ten at night at an old warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Forgive me for being a little cautious," she stiffened at the sound of the door latching behind her.

Liam nodded sharply, "I understand. You just wanted a 'cursory evaluation' right?"

"I believe those are the big words I said," Hedy smirked as she wheeled through the second door the man held open for her.

"What does that mean _exactly_?" the lawyer asked with the tone of someone who already knew but was humoring someone else.

Hedy sent a thin glare toward him. She wasn't going to put up with his haughtiness.

Liam held up his hands, "I have to know what you're going to do. You haven't signed the contract yet so anything you do to the assets is going to be on my head."

"Hmph. I'm just going to look at them. See what's broken on the outside to guess what I might need to fix on the inside. I'll have to get into their systems to really know what's needed. But I guess you're not going to let me do that?"

Liam shook his head and made his way toward another door at the end of a short hallway. There was a camera above the door. The young man fished an ID out of his briefcase and showed it to the camera.

After a second the door clicked open.

How many doors does a warehouse need?

Hedy followed him toward a large security cage a little way past the door. Inside sat a bored young woman with cropped bleach white hair and a single nose piercing.

"You again," she rolled her eyes at Liam. "Sorry sweetheart. I don't go for the suit and tie type. Try again some other time. Only one of us needs to be this desperate."

Hedy snorted at the annoyed look on the lawyer's face. Did he come here that often or did this woman tease everyone?

The woman glanced toward Hedy and blinked.

"Who's your girlfriend?" she droned.

"She's here about that mechanic job."

"Pffft. About time you got those rust buckets out of here."

"May I have the key please?" Liam said shortly.

The girl blew a blew a bubble with her gum and just stared at him.

" _Please,_ " Liam stressed.

"Since you asked so nicely…" the girl pulled a key of a wall of key hooks next to her and tossed them through the hole in the window between them. "Just get out of here by eleven thirty. It's not my problem if you get locked-in." The girl pushed forward a clipboard titled "guest sign-in" toward Hedy.

"What do you mean?" Hedy asked as she signed her name with a cheap pen tied to the clipboard with…dental floss.

"Listen, Professor X," the girl popped another bubble and took the sign-in sheet back. "This place locks down at midnight and there no one left here unless they want to stay the whole night. I'm long gone by then. You get stuck here? Too damn bad Wheelie…."

 _Wheelie?_ Hedy struggled kept a straight face. Yes, she knew it was an insult, but it really just sounded ridiculous. She had heard worse.

"Hey. I still don't know your name, but whoever you are, you don't have to be so rude." Liam snapped.

"Or what?" The girl grinned like a shark, "You gonna sue me?"

"I might."

They girl snorted. "Yeah. Have fun with your girlfriend. Freaky place for a date. I should know."

Liam scoffed and grabbed the key.

When they were out of earshot Hedy snickered.

"Who was that?"

"No idea really. She's just always here in the evenings. I don't really care to know her name."

"She's certainly a character."

"That's one word for it. I don't know you that well, but I was expecting some kind of retort from you."

"People like that don't deserve the attention," Hedy paused in her rolling to lift her arms in order to shrug, "But I was thinking of calling her Storm. The hair fits."

"Hm." the lawyer muttered something.

"Does this place really lock-down at midnight."

"Yes. Automatic security system. Top of the line. But we're not staying that long."

"Good. I'm not in the mood for a sleepover," Hedy frowned, "I snore. What happens if someone forgets to leave."

"There's an automatic number you can call from that guard cage. It tells you a one-time emergency code for the doors."

"If someone wanted to break in, wouldn't they just have to call that number to get a code."

"It only works if called from the phone in that office."

"Okay but what if someone snuck in and hid until the place locked down, helped themselves, and _then_ called for the code from that phone."

"How'd they get inside in the first place? They have to have an ID and be in a database for a guard to let them in." Liam countered. "Plus there's cameras everywhere."

"I've been here three minutes and I've already counted eight blind spots big enough for me to hide in," Hedy said. "And any database can be hacked with the right amount of skill. Don't get me started on fake ID cards."

"I'll be sure to remember you if this place is ever robbed," Liam laughed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You wouldn't catch me," Hedy said as they turned a corner, "I'm just saying that no system is ever really perfect."

She grinned up at him. "Justice system's a case in point."

Liam snorted at the jab, "I'm an attorney. I know that better than anyone. But I'm betting that finding flaws in any system is an engineer thing."

Hedy shrugged. "Don't you have to find flaws in a person's story?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. I haven't been in front of a criminal court since I was an intern. I'm still trying to claw my way through the ranks right now."

They fell into silence as Liam struggled to remember which way to go and Hedy studied her surroundings, mentally mapping out the warehouse in her head.

It was a very large warehouse on the edge of the industrial district of the city. There were multiple levels. And the "hallways" they were walking down were actually rows upon rows of shelves stocked with…well…everything.

Most things were in boxes or crates, but some things were out in the open with large orange tags hanging off them.

There were boxes labeled "perishables," "fragile," "RESTRICTED," and kinds of fun upsetting stuff.

Weirdly enough Hedy also recognized some things that looked suspiciously like props from movies she'd seen. She could even swear she saw the freaky clown costume the local amusement park pulls out for Halloween every year.

It was probably the same one she pepper-sprayed two years ago….

Hedy could imagine it was easy to get lost in there, so she focused on the mental map.

"Hey. Who owns this place?" she questioned.

They passed a cloth covered statue as they rounded another corner.

"Some third party," the man answered distractedly. They stopped at an intersection for a moment before he decided to turn left. "They have a long standing agreement with the company. It's something Mesa Security. Or Mega Security. I can't remember. I just call it Warehouse 13."

"Like the TV show?" She took a second to rest her arms and run a hand through her hair.

"Hey, someone else knows what I'm talking about."

"Yep. I liked it."

Liam didn't seem to notice that she had fallen a few steps behind so she quickly caught up, arms aching slightly.

"Anyway, here we are," Liam waved at a security cage, not unlike the one the security guard was working in near the entrance. There were a lot of them in this area and it didn't take much to figure companies were renting out whole mini-sections like this. It was like a locker. Or a large chain link dog kennels.

"It's pretty dark," Hedy pointed out.

Liam shrugged, unconcerned as he attempted to use the low lighting to stick the key in its padlock.

"It that normal?"

"Yeah. This entire district guzzles power, especially this building, so the city orders them to use emergency lights after ten."

Hedy muttered something under her breath.

"What the heck?" Liam said in disbelief.

"What?"

"It's unlocked," Liam said as he pushed the cage door open with a creak. "Err. I probably forgot to lock it when I was here this morning." Liam shot Hedy a grin, "At least it was you with me and not my boss."

Hedy looked into the little room. It didn't have walls specifically, but the cage was backed up against one of the warehouse's wall and the very back was devoid of light.

Hedy stayed outside as Liam walked right in and yanked on a string hanging from the middle of the ceiling. The light bulb it was attached to clicked on with a slight pop flooding the small cage with light.

Hedy and Liam both jumped (one of them may have let out a small shriek) at the sight of a large-ish plastic covered robot with a cartoon bear design. He was standing _right next the Liam_ , offline with his head bowed and eyes turned off.

Freddy. Actually, Toy Freddy, if Hedy's memory served her right. It was disorienting to see him again.

He looked awful. The paint was peeling off the plastic suit and whole pieces were missing. Hedy could see more parts of his endoskeleton than she should have and a lot was speckled with dots of rust, especially around the shoulders and ankles. One ear looked almost ready to fall off and one of his large glass covered eyes had a crack that was even noticeable from Hedy's position by the door.

Liam shuddered and stepped back. "Those jerks." He turned toward Hedy, back facing the robot, to explain. "I've been coming here too often. The day guards at this place like to move these guys around to freak me out."

"…Did they ever admit to that?" Hedy asked, eyes looking around for the others.

"Couse not. They're not allowed to mess around with any of the stuff in here. But I know they do. That girl at the guard post mentioned stuff being moved around all the time."

"…Ah…" Hedy said eventually.

"Well, here they are," Liam said, walking around the small area. "Here's Freddy. Obviously."

"Toy Freddy," Hedy corrected.

"Yeah. Um. Where is? Okay, _Toy_ Chica is right over there," he pointed to the right side at a lump under a canvas blanket. "Toy Bonnie is…right here." He walked toward the blue rabbit near the back that was propped up again the back wall. Standing next to him with the same blank grin was a shorter human-like robot. "And…Balloon Boy. Toy Foxy—"

"Toy Foxy?" Hedy said confused, "Oh wait, Mangle. Right."

"Mangle? I thought that was just a nickname. You should probably call them by the names the company gave."

"Who says?" Hedy rolled her eyes.

"The company never gave the restaurant permission to change its name. 'Mangle' is too scary a name for a children entertainer."

Hedy thought back to years before. "Nah. Kids didn't have a problem with it. And I think Mangle herself preferred it."

It was Liam's turn to roll his eyes. "You talk as if it's a person. They're not 'he' or 'she'. None of them are."

Hedy glared as she wheeled into the cage. An argument about that would be pretty pointless. He was right after all. She was a child back then and there were many things that could have been her imagination. Still.

"She is to me," Hedy said.

"It should be over in that crate," he pointed to a large wooden crate in the corner near Toy Chica as he gave her an odd look.

"Okay. What about the Puppet?"

"Erm. That might take a while. Since that creepy thing's the lightest, I think the guards like moving it around the most. It's pretty annoying. I have to go looking for it every once in a while. It's probably out there on a shelf somewhere. I found it sitting in the elevator once. I'll talk to the people here tomorrow about looking for it. Someone might get fired."

"There's an elevator?"

"Two actually. There are three other levels above us."

"I saw the catwalks. Just surprised that there are elevators."

"This place can afford it."

Liam took out his phone and checked it. "Are you good? I have to go get that paperwork filled out in the office _with her._ "

"You're leaving me here?" Hedy asked. She paused in her inspection of Toy Freddy to look toward Liam in concern.

"Yeah. I won't be any help here and there are about fifty pages of release forms I need to get ready for next month," Liam frowned, "Everything alright?"

Hedy didn't answer for a moment and eyed the silent, unmoving animatronics. "I'm good."

"I'll come get you at eleven fifteen if that's alright. Or you could call me when you're ready but the cell phone signal's terrible back here. You'd have to get about fifty feet thataway." Liam gestured behind them toward the rest of the warehouse.

"That should be fine," Hedy said after a second of thought. "An hour should be enough time to get a good idea of what I'll need."

"Have fun," Liam said as he turned on his heel to retrace his step back to the guard cage and that punk girl.

Hedy watched him leave for a moment before turning her attention back to the robots around her. She twisted around slightly to reach into the bag hanging the back of her chair and pulled out her smaller of two flashlights. It wasn't super bright but she just wanted a better look at the animatronics; she didn't want to blind herself.

She took a long moment to observe the robots' glassy lifeless expression. She was fine. They were offline. Nothing to worry about. Even if she was by herself.

"…Jerk," she muttered in Liam's general direction.

* * *

"Stuck up," Liam said under his breath. He walked quickly. Those things gave him the creeps but he knew that was just stupid. Almost as stupid as pretending they're alive like a child would.

That woman was so condescending! It was like she had to constantly prove she was the smartest in the room. At least they didn't drive together. She'd probably point out every failed safety feature of his Lexus. Yeesh.

"'I've been here three minutes and I can already count eight blind spots'!" he mocked with a high pitch haughty voice.

"I take it you're not her type either," a highly amused voice said. "Or is she not yours?"

Liam yelped and nearly jumped two feet in the air.

He didn't realize how soon he had arrived at the security officer's post. The girl with the bleached hair leaned against a shelf outside.

He had passed her without realizing.

The girl blew another bubble and looked at him with a bored expression.

He cleared his throat and stuffed down the feeling of mortification that was slowly creeping up.

"Do you have that paperwork?"

She shrugged and pushed off the shelf to walked toward her workspace, gesturing Liam to follow inside. "Don't worry, pretty boy. I don't bite much."

Liam was expecting a lot of papers. He was not expected the six-inch-tall stack the girl turned around with.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding," he said immediately disheartened as she unceremoniously dumped it in his arms. He was wondering why his boss was making him pick these up so ahead of schedule but now he could see why. It was going to take him weeks to get through everything and he sure as heck couldn't count on his dear "mentor" to help.

Liam groaned as he received the heavy stack and let it sink him into the single office chair by a computer.

"Hey!" the girl immediately snapped with viciousness, "Up! That's my chair. You want to look at those, you're doing it standing up or on the floor, sweetlips. Legs are optional for either of those choices."

He couldn't tell if she was flirting or threatening him. He decided to err on the side of caution and stood up.

The girl immediately claimed the seat again and preceded to completely ignore him, going back to playing her computer game with a cruel smirk as she decapitated another fictional enemy.

Actually, she didn't completely ignore him. Every so often she would turn to him and insult him for no reason he could see. They were such bizarre insults too, and oddly out of context.

"Son of a motherless goat" was the latest when Liam's phone rang.

"Thank you," Liam whispered to it as he put down his notebook and the page he was reading. The thanks were short lived as he read the caller ID.

"Great," he hissed and answered, "Hello sir. This is—…... yes I suppose you would know who you were calling. Y-yes I actually have them right here. If I may sir, it is eleven at night. Could we pick this up tommor—No sir! Yes, sir!"

" _Did you or did you not finish the Lennox Case Write-up?!"_ his boss shouted through the phone.

 _Does this man not understand the concept of sleep? Wait…the Lennox…_

Shoot. That was what he was working on before Hedy called him. Then he got wrapped up in showing her the robots that he forgot the Lennox Write-up was due that night.

"Actually sir, I found some issues in the draft that needed to be addressed so I'm a little behind," he lied, "I'm working on them right now actually—in addition to the warehouse paperwork! They'll be in your inbox by tomorrow."

" _They better be Liam."_ His boss hung up without another word.

The guard turned around in confusion at the inhumane noise Liam made as he scrambled to gather up all the papers while simultaneously pulling out his cell phone.

She shrugged uncaringly and turned back to her game.

" _Hello hello! This is Hedy. Leave your—."_

"Shoot. No reception back there." He let out a string of swears as he busied himself with writing a text explaining that he had to leave immediately. "Hey. Can you remind the lady who came with me to leave before the place closes?"

There was no response from the guard.

"Hey! I got to go! Can you make sure she leaves?"

The guard waved him off with a distracted shrug. "Uh huh," she muttered disinterested, her eyes still glued to the screen.

With that, Liam made a dash for the outside world. He was so dead if he didn't get that write-up done.

The guard looked up in surprise at the sound of the heavy outside door slamming shut.

Where the cute suit go?

She checked the time. Whatever. It was almost half past eleven.

"Well. Sorry guys," she said to the computer, biting down the familiar dilemma put before her, "The oracle isn't worth staying the night. I'm logging off." The gamer in her died at that statement. But the sacrifice was necessary.

Time to go.

* * *

 **;)**


	6. Locked In?

**Chapter 5**

 **Locked in?**

* * *

 _Dear Journal (Apparently I can't decide what to call you),_

 _Jeremy called today, asking about how my classes were going. I gave him the basic spiel. I thought that was the end of it and I really wished that was the case. But then he asked if I had any luck finding a job I liked. Apparently, he hasn't talked to Tops in a while. I'm not surprised. They're not exactly close. Tops doesn't check on me for anyone's' benefit but his own. Anyway, I was a little caught off guard ("guard" hey, it's a pun. Sort of.) Part of me really wanted to tell him I've had a job for the past month and a half. I wanted to tell him everything. Where I've been working. Who I'm working on/with. How scared and frustrated I've been. I want to believe he'd be understanding and trust that I could handle myself. I'm not an idiot. I know I was in danger, but I also knew what I was doing (mostly). I really want to believe he could just listen to me. But I knew that wouldn't be the case._

 _If I told him what I was doing, he'd freak. And he wouldn't let me come back, and I'd never get my answers. He'd ask me if my answers were more important than my life._

 _I'd have to say 'possibly.'_

… _In other news...the night guard ran over me tonight…it's actually kind of funny in hindsight. It got awkward when she ran off and Toby, who was chasing her, had to carry me to the main room. That wasn't the embarrassing part though. The big blue dork decided to leave me in the main room with the Originals. He could at least have taken me to the cove where I can work on Mags. Then things got awkward. Bonnie, the older Bonnie, kept staring at me like my face had turned to wax and was slowly melting. He looked terrified. Meanwhile, the two girls- Goldy and Chica- wouldn't look at me ( the feeling was mutual). That…pirate fox looked angry at me the whole time. Freddy…._

 _Freddy was watching the movie._

 _THAT I COULDN'T SEE! TOBY CHOSE THE ONE SEAT IN THE ENTIRE ROOM WHERE I COULDN'T SEE THE STUPID MOVIE!_

 _Side note: something weird is going one. I'm not entirely sure (I could have just misheard) but I think Freddy said something about choosing to kill people. As if they (the original) didn't have a choice while the Toys did (do). ? I'm probably overthinking it?_

* * *

CLANK!

A loud clash of metal locks echoed around the large building, startling Hedy. She gasped and fumbled with her pen light.

"The heck?"

She pocketed the small light and turned her chair toward the exit of the cage.

Then everything went dark.

Not completely. Half the lights were still on, though dim, and she could still see. Somewhat?

Hedy frowned and went back into the cage to grab her big flashlight. She slung her bag over the back of her wheelchair and glanced back at the lifeless expressions on the robots before she left.

Halfway back to the "office" she heard her cell phone go off. It was a text, late due to lack of a service before that moment.

"Work emergency. Got to go," she read. "Wait…did he seriously leave me here? What time is it?"

12:02am. The glowing digits on her phone taunted her.

Hedy grimaced and would have crushed her phone in her hand if she had the strength to do so. THIS was why she needed a watch! She could get so caught up with a project that she doesn't notice how much time passed. And a watch was less of a bother to check compared to a phone she had to fish out.

"Damnit…" Hopefully the weird code system this place had actually worked. Worse comes to worse, she would have a funny story to tell later. Still, she didn't want to spend the night in a giant, vastly spacious, creepy warehouse.

A little icon on her phone caught her eye. It was blinking steadily.

" _You have_ one _voicemail:_ Hi. It's me, Liam. Sorry I had to leave in a hurry. Uh…something came up. Hope you got out all right. Can we reschedule sometime if you didn't get what you need? Call me tomorrow."

"Dingus," Hedy muttered.

Her head shot up at the sharp sound of something falling. She looked around frantically. "Hello?" Silence. Hedy didn't shrug it off, but she quickly realized something probably just got knocked off.

By what? She hoped it wasn't rats. She hated rats.

She shook her head and listened to the next voicemail, also from Liam it seemed.

"So I forgot to mention in the last message: don't forget to lock the ca-."

FZZZ. Click.

Hedy pulled her head away and looked at the device deadpanned. "Really?!"

That, dear readers, is what is called "a very inconvenient moment."

Hedy's phone battery just died. And if you are familiar with any kind of story such as this, you'll realize that, while harmless in the short term, it is a terrible thing in the long-term in this particular situation.

It didn't take her long to reach the security cage. It was quiet.

Empty.

Dark.

….

And the door was shut with a padlock.

Hedy sighed, sharply putting her head to the fencing in exasperation, making impressions on her forehead. Great.

She glanced around. Desperate times…

Picking a lock is a lot harder than it sounds. Luckily, she had a mechanics professor with a sense of humor and several bobby pins in her hair.

When that was done, she rolled toward the landline phone and picked up the receiver.

Wait. Wasn't there a number she was supposed to call. She put the receiver down and searched the desk.

The guards at the warehouse were slobs. Old food. Papers everywhere. Some questionable reading material…probably not the girl from earlier due to sticky note that said "JIM" on the stack.

She glanced up. There! A sticky note with a phone number was stuck to the top of the computer monitor.

" _This is Black Mesa Security! We meet all your security needs! If you're calling from a Black Mesa Security subscription, please press one."_

 _Beep!_

" _Please wait while we verify your location….. your emergency lockout code is…..:8873290. Enjoy! Please be aware this code is only active for 30mins, at which point you will have to call this number from this device again. Have a nice day!_

Hedy rolled her eyes and sighed in relief. She picked up the lock on the way out and closed up the security cage again. No one had to know she picked it.

She yanked on it for good measure to make sure it was set and locked. Then she put the bobby pins back in her hair.

She giggled at the thought of being an unintentional trespasser.

"I must be more exhausted than I thought," she snickered, the Mission Impossible theme running through her head. She was laughing at…really nothing funny in particular.

She got to the door, set her bag down, and entered the code….

But nothing happened.

Her smile was wiped, but she tried again.

And again.

And again.

She swore. What was going on? Did she get it right? Of course she did. Remembering numbers was a specialty of hers.

8873290

She stared at the big metal door.

"Are you _serious?!_ " she shouted at it as she smacked it. She seemed to be asked questions like that a lot lately. "First they forget I was here, then the stupid code doesn't even work? What gives?"

She tried again for good measure before muttering to herself and turning back to the security cage to try again. It was way too late to be dealing with this stuff.

She got there in record time, her annoyance masking the strain she put her arms through. She rolled her wheelchair right up to the cage door and pushed it opened with a peeved shove. The chain link rattled.

But something was nagging her. She paused at the opening, an awful feeling in her gut that something was wrong...

…but what?

She frowned and shook it off.

The phone was off its hook, and Hedy briefly wondered if she was really in such a hurry that she forgot to put it up correctly.

She dialed the number again.

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed has been locked due to _**ten**_ consecutive code retrieval attempts within five minutes. For security measures, emergency lockout codes are unavailable for the next six hours. Thank you for using Black Mesa Security!"

Hedy froze.

She only called the number once…

Her eyes drifted to an object on the desk in front of her, and she paled.

The lock.

Now she knew what was bothering her a moment ago.

Didn't she lock the door?

She casually lowered the phone back down onto the receiver with a click. Hedy discreetly picked up the lock as her hand passed over it. Then she glanced around the room, careful to not show just how badly she was freaking out inside.

Someone was here. And they just locked her inside a big lonely warehouse with no way out, and she didn't have an immediate way to call for help.

What was different about the room? What was different about the room?

Spot the difference.

She didn't have a photographic memory, but it was excellent if she could concentrate.

Two desks. One computer. Papers everywhere. Full Trashcans. Boxes. Lots of boxes.

She could see outside the cage too. Keep in mind it wasn't really a room. It was just as much a large dog kennel as the storage facility the robots were in, though perhaps a bit bigger. There were no walls to hide behind and only a screen of twisted metal strands separating her from the darkness.

She stiffened and forced herself to keep her eyes moving, so not to give away that she noticed something different.

Boxes. One too many boxes. Above the extra box was a pair of hovering white lights. They were tiny and dim as she almost didn't see them if they hadn't shifted _ever so slightly_ when her eyes passed over them.

It was dark and whatever it was _standing behind her in a dark corner_ was too hidden for her to pick out any shapes.

She had to keep herself from shaking as she powered on the computer in front of her, ignoring the figure. Her back crawled, knowing something sinister was right behind her.

It watched her as she stared at the computer screen. Silent. Unmoving.

She took a few minutes to search the desk for the login key. She found it in the top drawer on a piece of paper and logged in to the company computer.

"Black Mesa Security," she mumbled as she started looking through the files. "Access codes. Access code. You got to have a database of codes right?"

A file name caught her eye. It was on the desktop, on the bottom left. Seemingly an ordinary file if it wasn't titled, help!_white_ .

The voicemail from Scott earlier that day hit her.

She clicked it.

" _Please be something that can help me,"_ she thought, acutely aware of whatever was behind her, yet never knowing if it was about to do something. "White Eyes" was too coincidental.

It was a video.

A black screen at first, followed by a couple seconds of static.

Then nothing. Hedy stared at it for a long moment, before a man suddenly appeared.

"Yo! So I just got this sick new job. Late nights. Decent pay. Plus I have an excuse to sleep all day. Heh. Just kidding, it kinda sucks. So damn boring-."

Static. But the sound kept coming in and out.

"Video log. Vlog. That's what I'm doing-."

"-Camera's!-."

"Some kind of joke…"

Finally, the static settled.

"Yo…so uh…yesterday, kinda tried making a video record of my time here. Just as a stupid something to keep me busy. But…something happened." The guy leaned back in his chair heavily, the light from the computer screen barely illuminating his face.

Hedy couldn't pick out individual features. Even his hair color was hard to tell.

"It's probably just a stupid prank," the guy laughed. "I just thought it is a good idea to record everything while I'm here. Ya know, for insurance. Anyway, stuff got moved around yesterday, and someone kept locking me out of different places. Like the bathroom. Yeesh. I tried finding whoever was here on the cameras, but the jerks used those to mess with me too. There are some robots down in the high-security section. They kept being moved into the camera's view. Very funny."

Hedy froze. She couldn't help it.

"It's really freaky. And no one owns up to it. At least I'm only working for a week. Just until I get enough to pay the next rent, then I'm looking for something else. Anyway, I'm recording the security video to see if I can check the jerks doing this. Uh bye, I guess."

The screen when black and Hedy yelled, swinging her arm around instinctively.

When the video ended, there was a reflection in the glass. What scared her was that something thin and vaguely human-shaped stood right behind her.

Her hand connected, eliciting a grunt.

It was very lightweight, and her blow knocked it off balance and made it trip over itself. By luck or good timing, it fell out the door.

Hedy didn't waste any time. She immediately slammed it shut, rattling the chains, and locking it with the padlock.

There was a chuckle as the thing stood up and slunk into the darkness.

"When you lock things out, be careful that they do not have the key, night guard."

Its voice was soft, male, and oddly proper. And dark.

Hedy shuddered. She hadn't been expecting it to speak, but what really confused her was that the voice was familiar. She heard it before. Where?

Eyes wide and cautious, with a little bit of panic, she rolled backward toward the desk. She thought she saw a ring of keys. The guard girl had one on her belt, but there was a big ring of extras hanging off the handle of one of the drawers. It wasn't there anymore.

There was a metallic jingle.

Hedy looked up at the _thing_ she just threw out of the cage.

It's sharp, slender hand barely in the light jangled the keys in her view, the little pieces of metal reflecting little flashes from the low light.

Her mouth dried. "Who are you!? What's going on?"

She grabbed the nearest, heaviest weapon she could reach, which happened to be a _broom._

Crap.

She expected the thing to come and unlock the cage, letting itself in.

There was only silence. Hedy couldn't tell where they went. It could get in. Anytime. Why wasn't it trying?

She waited for a few minutes, but when nothing happened, she forced herself to take a deep breath.

"Okay. One thing at a time. Help. Escape. Defense. Answers later. Help. Escape. Defense. Help. Escape. Defense. Maybe it's just a prank."

She pressed her hands into her eyes. She didn't like the dark. She didn't like being trapped like this. She felt like an animal. _Prey_. This was one sick joke.

She continued to mutter shakily under her breath. Assume danger unless proven otherwise. If she was being recorded for a stupid prank show, then so be it. It's not funny, but she'd rather be called gullible than assume it's a joke and get killed. She hated those kinds of pranks. It's not funny to be scared for your life.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Okay. Help first," she murmured to herself, keeping half an ear on the door.

All she got from the phone when she typed the emergency number was a long steady dial tone. The computer's internet was very restrictive, and she wasn't sure she was willing to sacrifice the time needed to hack it. She'll come back to it later.

DING.

She blinked. A message just popped up.

Subject: NEW GAME

She clicked it hesitantly. It opened a chat room.

 _NEW GAME Y/N_

Hedy frowned.

 _No._ She sent.

 _HERE ARE THE RULES. SURVIVE THE WEEK, AND WE'LL LET YOU GO._ _IF YOU CAN GET TO THE DOOR AND GET OUT, THEN YOU WIN._

She stared, fingers frozen. Hedy looked around outside the cage. She felt very exposed without any walls to give her any sense of safety.

 _I'm not playing. I can just wait till people come back in the morning. Then I don't have to come back. Ever. Much less SIX more times._

 _THE DOORS UNLOCK AT SIX. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE COMES, WE'LL JUST KILL THE NEXT PERSON TO COME IN BEFORE YOU CAN WARN THEM._ _THEY'LL BE DEAD, AND YOU'LL BE THE ONLY ONE HERE._

Hedy froze. Whoever was here, watching her, was actually threatening murder.

 _You're here._

 _YOU DON'T KNOW WHO WE ARE. XD_

There was another message being typed.

 _NO ONE EVER SUSPECTS US._

 _Who are you?_

 _THAT WOULD RUIN THE FUN. DON'T WORRY YOU HAVE A CHANCE. IT WOULDN'T BE A GAME IF YOU DIDN'T._

 _What kind of chance?_

 _WE PROMISE NOT TO MOVE IF YOU CAN SEE US._

 _What the heck is that supposed to mean?!_

 _HINT: THERE'S SIX OF US._

FazEntTC..system..ext has logged off.

Hedy swore and yanked at her hair. "This is nuts…" That was a weird username too. "FazEntTC..system..ext"? That's the name of a computer program file, not something a psycho would choose.

"One thing at a time," she repeated to herself. What was next on her list? Escape. Okay, well that was the "game" whoever was out there wanted her to play. And she was playing whether she wanted to or not.

Hedy tugged her ponytail tighter, a scowl on her face, her calculating mind racing. Her chair creaked as she rolled back and forth in thought. When your own body is against you, often your mind and ingenuity are all you have left.

* * *

 **Hiya! Miss me? Hate me? I don't know where Arctic is, but I decided to try to work on this while we wait. By the way, FF thought I was including a website so I added the extra periods to calm the site down because it wouldn't let me use that "username". Those aren't really there.**


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